Competition helps promote traditional tuanzi

Hongshan town locals pick fresh wheat leaves and grind them to extract their juice for making greentuanzi. [Photo by Liu Xia/chinadaily.com.cn]

Twenty families from Wuxi gathered at Lianghong Wetland Park in Hongshan town on March 16 to compete in atuanzi-making event.Tuanziis a unique local delicacy made to commemorate Wu Taibo, the founder of Wu culture.

The competition offered a number of awards and all park visitors were invited to select their favorite team according to the flavor and appearance of the tuanzi the participants made, as well as the teamwork they exhibited throughout the event.

Hongshan town locals grind wheat leaves for their special green juice, a key ingredient of greentuanzi. [Photo by Liu Xia/chinadaily.com.cn]

In addition to the 20 families, 50 child reporters recruited in the early stages of the event and their families also participated intuanzi-making activities such as extracting juice from fresh wheat leaves, kneading dough, and putting stuffing inside.

Hongshan town, the center of Wu culture, boasts a variety of folk activities, of whichtuanzi-making is one of the most iconic ones. The gooey and tender rice dumpling balls, white and green in color, are made in preparation for Qingming Festival, which falls on April 5 this year. The process of making Hongshan green and whitetuanziwas listed as a Wuxi intangible cultural heritage item in August 2010.